"Okayokayokay!" Ryan laughs. "Maybe don't read it in the ancient tongue!"

I laugh as well while Aster lets out a few happy yips. Ryan asked me if I could read the section on the beast most similar to Aster in the ancient tongue, and I don't think he was prepared to not be able to understand me. He has admitted that he's barely begun to understand it.

"So… what does it say in English?" Ryan asks.

"Everything, or just the part I read?" I ask.

"Both."

"The summary of the part I read," I say. "Roughly translates to 'As with all information contained within this journal, these are merely speculations, hearsay, and tales which I have learned.' The part of that states that the first section regards what the tales are consistent on between all Celestials."

"The common factors between them," Ryan says.

"Right," I say. "Then we'll go to the section on the wolf pup with the starry pelt. Aster, want to join us?"

Aster tilts his head to the side for a moment, then runs up and jumps onto the couch. He then climbs onto my lap and curls up with his head facing the book. Upon seeing the image on the page – a wolf larger than the size of the trees in the background and with a coat of purples, oranges, and pinks reminiscent of sunrise and sunset – he tilts his head a little and looks up at me.

"This is the start," I tell him. "We can look at the section on that big guy later. Tonight, Ryan and I want to see what the Dungeons' books and journals say about your kind of Celestial, alright?"

"Woof!"

Now that we're all ready, I begin translating more of the passages here, quietly so I can just summarize them for Ryan.

"It looks like," I say. "Hold on…"

"What?" Ryan asks.

"This isn't just a text on stuff found in tomes and scrolls and such in Dungeons," I tell him. "It contains records from people who've actually encountered Celestials."

"As in… people from Earth?"

"Yeah," I answer. "It leads into the next part. According to this, a Celestial is always spotted when those who could enter a Mythic Forest did, though they've also rarely been spotted here on Earth. Even more rarely than mythical beasts. It looks like they suspect the Celestials live in the Mythic Forests."

That might explain why I encountered Aster within the Mythic Forest, except it doesn't explain why it took me so long to encounter a Celestial within it. I don't think Aster had actually been in the forest until I spotted him.

Which suggests all of the Celestials left it at some point.

"Are you from a Mythic Forest?" Ryan asks Aster, who gives him a happy woof, his tail flicking up and down a little. "Uh… well, I can't speak wolf."

"He is," I say. "To add in something, I was in a Mythic Forest when I came across him earlier."

While I currently have no plans to bring Ryan to the Mythic Forest, I don't think it would hurt to mention that I've been in one. I've known him long enough to trust that he won't go spreading it around. At most, he might ask questions and I'll just honestly answer that it's dead.

"Lucky," Ryan says. "There wasn't anything in the one I went to."

That's… not what I was expecting.

"You were in one?" I ask.

"Last Friday," he nods. "I'd gotten it as a reward a couple of days before but waited to go in until then. It was completely dead. No plants. No animals. No water. Just dry soil for miles. The remnants of what were probably rivers, streams, and a lake. And… monsters. Goblins, to be specific. They were roaming around all over the place. That's not really how Mythic Forests were described when I researched them to find out what to expect."

It granted him access to one as a reward, which means others likely have been as well – they either didn't report it or weren't believed. That's the only thing which would make sense as to why I couldn't find anything about them.

"Whatever's happening with the Dungeons," Ryan says. "It must be related to the Mythic Forests as well. If the one I was granted access to is dead, then they all might be."

A process which began centuries ago in our time. Until about sixty years ago, the rewards for Daily and Weekly Quests were multiplied by half of one's Level, then it became set at the base reward. Mythic Forests stopped being a reward five centuries ago, so they probably started dying sometime around then.

"And you didn't see a Celestial when you were there?" I ask.

"No," Ryan reaches over and rubs Aster's head. "Didn't even know they existed until this evening."

When I looked up Mythic Forests, there was no mention of Celestials, either. I didn't look too deeply, though, so it could just be that I missed the mentions of them.

"Woof!" Aster says, then puts a paw on the picture of the big Celestial.

"Alright," I say as Ryan chuckles. "I'll get back to reading. Let's see… all Celestials seem to fit within 'clans' based on their coloration. All known Celestials of a clan seem to have a similar age when they're spotted. If one of a clan is an elder among its species, all those spotted from that clan are elders. Those within a clan also have similar characteristics."

"That much we learned from the worker at the store," Ryan says.

"Yeah," I rub Aster's head as I read more of the passage. "It's assumed that the different clans have rules for when members can make themselves known, though of course, they don't know for sure."

"Sounds plausible if all of a clan are the same age when spotted," he says.

"Right," I continue reading. "All Celestials wield aether, the origin of all energy forms of the universe. Whether they simply have a vast amount of it or unlimited, it's unknown. No journal, tome, scroll, or other form of mention of them ever gives a limitation to how much they can do, but the clans seem to have preferences for their magics. Some Celestials were known to speak in the languages of those they encountered, both in findings within Dungeons and in encounters by actual people."

"Some can talk, then?" Ryan looks at Aster. "Can you talk?"

"Woof!"

We both chuckle and Ryan gives Aster a light rub on his side. Aster lets out a soft rumble of contentment, then looks at me before putting a paw on the picture of the big Celestial again.

"He really wants us to read about the big one," I say.

"We can do that after this part," Ryan says. "Save the bit about Aster for later."

"Alright," I say. "Let's see… there's not much else that's conclusive about the Celestials as a whole. So they fit within a few clans, all of which seem to have preferences for magics to use but might not be limited, wield aether in what may be from an unlimited pool of it, and potentially reside in the Mythic Forests. Or at least, they formerly resided in them."

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

A series of images, impressions, and emotions enter my mind, transferred in a clear and concise manner by Aster.

In a way which suggests he's fully aware of how to effectively communicate with someone.

"Not really?" I ask. "Celestials visit the Mythic Forests, but they never lived there?"

"Woof!" Aster nods.

"He only nodded," Ryan says. "Wait. Did you use [Animal Communication] to get that?"

"No," I answer. "He used it on his own," I scratch behind Aster's ears. "Seems he knows how. Let's see what the part about the big guy says."

Aster's tail begins flicking excitedly as I locate that section, which turns out to be the first one after the part about all Celestials. The first page has another image of the massive wolf, which still stands taller than the trees.

The pup puts his head on the picture and lets out a soft whine.

"What is it?" I ask, and he looks up at me but doesn't answer. "Alright, then… let's see what the book says is known about him. It says… there's one Celestial which is believed to actually alter its height to be as small or as large as he likes.

"While multiple Celestials with his coloration have been spotted," I continue as I look through the pages. "They are the only one to consistently speak with people. He is the only one to consistently speak with people and is often seen watching.

"This next bit is a story given in a journal," I flip to the next page, where an image of a giant wolf and a human-sized bird with the same, dawn/dusk coloration is split between the two pages. "Found within a Dungeon, it claims that the Awakened Emezunvet achieved the rare feat of being granted access to a Mythic Forest for a second time, forty years after the first. In both visits, he saw two Celestials of different clans – except he saw a dusk clan one in each.

"This here," I move a finger under the words. "Says that 'and when he later spoke of the encounter, Emezunvet claimed the great dusk bird spoke with the same voice as the great dusk wolf.' That tale is all that's on this page. Well, summarized."

I flip the page.

"Hold on," Ryan says. "There was more?"

"Yeah," I say. "But I'm guessing it's stated again. Yeah, right here. It seems that this tale of Emezunvet is one of the main bases for the belief that those with that coloration are the same creature, the other being that he's apparently been seen shifting his form.

"Here," I tap a section of the page before the tale. "It says that the other Celestials seem to defer to the great one. This is most common among those of the starry hides, who need only a glance from him to calm down. Have you ever met him, Aster?"

Aster lets out another soft whine while sending me a message. This time, it's a memory of him climbing on the fur of the great Celestial, who's resting in the shade of a tree on a hill. If it weren't for the fact that Aster is smaller than one of the ears of the other Celestial in the memory, I wouldn't think the other was large at all.

But that scaling indicates that the other one must be several hundred feet in length in the memory… and the tree it was nestled between the roots of must be absolutely immense.

That memory fades as another one rises, this time of Aster sitting on a dirt slope, staring toward the center. That slope… it's the Great Napping Spot.

In the second memory Aster sent me, he's not a wolf pup. From what I can see from Aster's perspective, he's a bear cub in the second memory.

I don't want to voice that in front of Ryan until I have more concrete confirmation, but if that memory is correct, that means that it's possible the Celestial clans aren't clans at all.

Rather, the Celestials themselves shift their forms, just as the great one is believed to be able to do. Their personalities and minds remain the same between the forms, which is why they have similarities between them.

"Something happened to him?" I ask, and Aster lets out another soft whine, then looks up at me and starts wagging his tail a little. "I don't mind you hanging out with me."

"Woof!"

"So then," Ryan says. "They're the same beast? Did Aster just tell you that?"

"Not quite," I say. "He showed me a memory of him climbing on the bigger wolf. Aster? Are these the same beast?"

I point at the picture on this pair of pages, which is of the Celestial with a rabbit form, then flip back to the previous page and point at both the bird and the wolf forms.

"Woof!" Aster nods, his tail wagging even more excitedly.

"You're going to have to stop that!" I laugh as I grab his tail. "You're whacking me with this!"

"Woof!"

"I'll take that as a confirmation," Ryan says.

"Same here," I say. "I think Aster wants to look at the pictures on his own."

"Woof!" Aster nods again.

"We can move to my room while he does that," Ryan suggests. "If you want."

It seems it's time for the next part of our date.

"Sure," I pat beside me on the couch. "Aster, move over so I can get up, yeah?"

Aster gets off my lap and sits while staring at me expectantly. I get up and put the book down so he can look at it, and the page flips on its own back to the previous one as the pup lies down.

While the pup gets to work looking at the pictures of the big boss of the Celestials, Ryan and I move to the master bedroom. The moment the door is closed, Ryan pulls me in for a kiss.

"Before we get started," Ryan says. "I want to know what it is you prefer for sex. What you're comfortable with, preferences, and so on."

"Giving oral," I tell him. "Receiving it, on-fours, and on-back. I do prefer giving oral first, and on-four as the first or only anal. Receiving oral isn't a necessity for me, and I can cum from anal, though it'll usually take about three rounds, depending on how long and good they are. I still enjoy it quite a lot, however. No slapping or chocking or anything like that. What about your preferences?"

It can't be all about mine here.

"I'm open to most positions," he slips his hands under my outer shirt as he slides them onto my sides. "Though I do generally prefer ones that let me kiss or hold close. We can do on-fours first, though."

Ryan kisses me as he takes off my outer shirt, then he pulls my inner one off as well. I pull off his shirt, then rub his abs a little as he undoes the button and zipper of my pants. They're so firm; I'll definitely be touching them more when I'm on my back.

A moment later, I'm stepping out of my pants as Ryan rubs my crotch through my underwear, which he promptly removes along with my socks. His touches are soft and gentle, yet sure and confident.

I kiss his stomach as I move to my knees, Ryan gently stroking my hair as I pull his pants, underwear, and socks off together. His dick is just as large in real life as in the pictures andat 8.7" long and 2.3" thick, it's quite the sizable weapon.

Rather than taking it straight into my mouth, I stroke it a little as I lick and suck his smooth balls. When I move to his dick, pulling back the foreskin and taking only the head into my mouth, Ryan lets out a soft moan.

I focus on only the tip for a few minutes, glad Ryan's enjoying it. It takes me a minute, but I manage to work his dick all the way in, my nose now pressed against his smooth crotch. While this is a pretty tight fit, I manage to keep my teeth from touching him, something I'm sure he appreciates.

When I pull back so only the tip is in my mouth, I look up to see Ryan's expression and he's looking down at me with those beautiful orange eyes of his, his mouth slightly agape as he takes short, pleasured breaths.

"That felt amazing," his voice is barely a whisper, then lets out a soft moan as I go back down.

It takes only a few minutes for me to bring him to the edge, and not much more before he reaches his peak. Shot of shot of cum blasts into my mouth and once his orgasm comes to an end, I stand and go for a kiss.

Ryan wraps his arms around me and kisses me deeply before picking me up and carrying me to his bed. After making sure I'm braced well while on my arms and knees, Ryan lubes up his dick, then begins to slide it into my ass. Once the tip is in, he moves his hands to my hips, adjusts his grip, and begins to slowly slide in the rest of the way.

I shift my body a little bit lower as he does that, then moan softly at the sensation as his dick rubs against my prostate.

Ryan begins thrusting, keeping a firm grip on my hips and waist at first. He switches to holding my sides after a few moments, continuing to adjust until he gets comfortable.

His soft moans, his grip on my sides, his dick sliding back and forth inside of me and rubbing my sweet spot, it all feels amazing. He quickly figures out a good pace, alternating between slow and long thrusts and short and fast ones, his prior orgasm extending how long it takes for the next. I'd like for him to switch to full speed after a few minutes but this feels too good for me to want to interrupt.

When his second climax ends, Ryan pulls out of my ass and I get up and turn around, which he turns into a kiss as he lies me on my back. He adds a little more lube to his dick before sliding it back into my ass, moving my legs past his sides and holding my thighs. Ryan returns to the rhythm he used before once he finds a good position, though with longer fast periods, much to my enjoyment.

Through it, he alternates between being bent down and kissing me, his arms resting on the bed beside my head while I rub his back and hair and being more in a kneeling position, holding my legs while either straight up or only bent slightly over. In the latter position, I either hold his hands or rub his stomach and chest. They feel nice, especially his abs. Sometimes, he holds onto my sides as well, his body half-bent over me.

That's the perfect position for us to maintain eye contact, which I enjoy quite a lot. His almost seem to shine golden as he nears his climax again, at which point, he bends down and starts kissing once more. I reach up and grab his sides, enjoying the feeling of his lips against mine and his dick filling my ass with its size. At his third climax, Ryan stops thrusting in favor of only kissing.

Then, he slowly pulls out and kisses down my chest until he reaches my dick, which he takes the tip of into his mouth after pulling back my foreskin. While on the larger side, my dick is smaller than his at 7.9" in length and roughly 1.9" in thickness. With expert care, he teases and stimulates it until I reach my peak, soft gasps escaping me with every pulse. After my climax ends and he's swallowed every drop, Ryan kisses his way back up to me and locks lips with mine, then turns me onto my side so he can snuggle me from behind.

"Ryan-" I begin.

"Just for a few minutes," he murmurs. "I always shower after."

"Alright."

Being held like this by him is a pretty nice way to rest. If I'm not careful, I might fall asleep.